Who wants to make a dirty bomb?
New Scientist reporting on the ease of acquisition of radioactive materials in the US.
With all the security measures in place against terrorist attacks, you might think it would be difficult to obtain enough radioactive material from within the US to build a dirty bomb. It turns out that all you need is a little ingenuity and one fake fax.
Posing as staff from a construction firm, members of the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) asked the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for a licence to purchase small amounts of substances such as caesium-137, which is found in moisture meters used on building sites. Four weeks later, without running detailed checks on the company or requesting a visit, the NRC issued the licence.
The GAO staff then altered the licence to indicate they had NRC approval to purchase unlimited amounts of radioactive material. Suppliers of such material accepted faxed copies of the doctored licence and even offered discounts for purchasing larger quantities. The GAO then halted its investigation and made public its findings on 12 July.
This is the full article, but there's a link to the actual report on the website.
http://www.newscientisttech.com/article/dn12306-fake-documents-can-buy-dirty-bomb-material.html
The airplane restriction crap is useless nonsense. This is a legitimate concern.
Morons.....
With all the security measures in place against terrorist attacks, you might think it would be difficult to obtain enough radioactive material from within the US to build a dirty bomb. It turns out that all you need is a little ingenuity and one fake fax.
Posing as staff from a construction firm, members of the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) asked the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for a licence to purchase small amounts of substances such as caesium-137, which is found in moisture meters used on building sites. Four weeks later, without running detailed checks on the company or requesting a visit, the NRC issued the licence.
The GAO staff then altered the licence to indicate they had NRC approval to purchase unlimited amounts of radioactive material. Suppliers of such material accepted faxed copies of the doctored licence and even offered discounts for purchasing larger quantities. The GAO then halted its investigation and made public its findings on 12 July.
This is the full article, but there's a link to the actual report on the website.
http://www.newscientisttech.com/article/dn12306-fake-documents-can-buy-dirty-bomb-material.html
The airplane restriction crap is useless nonsense. This is a legitimate concern.
Morons.....